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Summary: "The idea of a carbon tax will have to be revisited if Prime Minister Helen Clarke’s vision of a carbon-neutral country is to become a reality, according to Toyota New Zealand’s executive chairman Bob Field.

He said that with all political parties now supporting sustainability, the carbon tax should be put back on the agenda. "Corrective and collective action is long overdue if we are serious about reducing carbon emissions." Field was speaking at the launch of the hybrid Lexus RX400h, the luxury petrol-electric all-wheel-drive sports utility vehicle, priced at $99,050. He said most New Zealanders recognised and supported the need to take action on climate change.

‘The time could therefore be right for imposing a carbon tax at the same time as reducing company and personal income tax so the whole exercise would be fiscally neutral.’

Field and other executives in the automotive industry are pushing for a carbon tax at fuel pumps in an effort to coax buyers into more fuel-efficient vehicles."

An auto executive urging what would effectively be a tax on gas guzzlers? Yes, but only on the far side of the world, where islands being inundated by global warming’s floodwaters are more visible.